23-year-old winger Tag Bertuzzi has signed with the Belleville Senators, agreeing to a professional tryout, and joining the B-Sens for their game in Utica on Saturday night.
The Belleville Senators announced today they've agreed to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with winger Tag Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound left winger who's played most of this season with the East Coast Hockey League's Reading Royals (24 points in 30 games).
Naturally, that surname will be familiar to NHL fans, both past and present. Tag is the son of Todd Bertuzzi, a star in the NHL from 1995–2014, and the cousin of Tyler Bertuzzi, who currently plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tag is also well known to Ottawa's brain trust, playing for GM Steve Staios and owner Michael Andlauer with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2019-20. Bertuzzi collected 112 points over 191 OHL games, splitting his junior career between Hamilton, Guelph, and Flint.
Tag entered the junior ranks as one of the very best-regarded young prospects in the game, drafted second overall by Guelph in the OHL Draft. But when all the smoke had cleared from his junior career, the NHL Draft never came calling and he ended up entering the pro ranks by way of free agency.
Bertuzzi also played 14 games this season with the Tulsa Oilers, collecting four points. And he also had one point in eight AHL games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, who released him from a PTO two days ago.
Update: Bertuzzi was released by the B-Sens after the game in Utican Saturday.